SpringOne at Explore 2024 Recap, new Blog Posts & Videos

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of the newsletter. This is coming to you a day late because we celebrated Labor Day here yesterday. I have a lot to catch you up on because it was a busy August for me starting with SpringOne at Explore 2024.

I was back in Vegas for SpringOne at Explore 2024 last week and wow was it a long but productive few days. I got into Vegas on Saturday, August 24th because I had to be up and early on Sunday morning for rehearsals. I was the host of the Spring Spotlight (Keynote) and I had to record some voice-overs as well as run through the entire show on site with the whole team.

The keynote started on Monday at 9:00 AM and I had to be up early to prepare for the big show. It was a lot of fun and the honor of a lifetime to be up on the main stage introducing so many talented people that I had to pinch myself a couple of times during the show. If you want to see a recording of the keynote you can check it out below.

I spent the rest of my trip in the Spring Theater as an emcee for most of our amazing speakers on Monday and Tuesday. I also had a couple sessions of my own which you can check out below.

If you want to check out the keynote and all the sessions from the Spring Theater you can view our YouTube playlist below.

SpringOne 2024 Playlist

And here are a few photos from the event.

SpringOne 2024

SpringOne 2024

SpringOne 2024

SpringOne 2024

Thank you to everyone who attended my sessions and spent some time talking with me. I had so much fun interacting with our amazing community and I can't wait to do it again!

AI

If you follow me at all you know I have been deep into the world of AI. I am having so much fun learning about how to leverage AI in my day to workflow as a developer and content creator. I have also had a lot of fun this year learning how to incorporate it into my Java applications with Spring AI.

Spring AI

Speaking of Spring AI did you hear that the team just released Spring AI 1.0.0 M2. A major emphasis for this release has been on observability functionality, crucial for monitoring, debugging, and optimizing AI applications. Comprehensive observability features have been introduced for:

  • ChatClient (including Advisors)
  • Chat Models (OpenAI, Ollama, Mistral, Anthropic)
  • Embedding Models
  • Image Generation Models
  • Vector Stores

Blog Posts

I have written a few blog posts over the last month that I thought I would share with you.

Harnessing Local LLMs: A Practical Guide to Ollama and Open Web UI

In this blog post, I dive into Ollama, a cool tool that lets you run large language models (LLMs) right on your own machine. Imagine having the power of models like Llama 3.1 at your fingertips, with all the benefits of cost savings and enhanced security. I break down the whole process, from installation to model selection, and even introduce you to Open Web UI – think of it as your personal, customizable ChatGPT.

Curious about running your own local LLMs and supercharging your AI projects? Check out the full guide here: Harnessing Local LLMs - A Practical Guide to Ollama and Open Web UI. Trust me, whether you're a developer, AI enthusiast, or just love staying ahead of the tech curve, this is one you won't want to miss. Happy coding! 🚀💻

Claude 3.5 Sonnet - AI Assistance with Speed and Artifacts

Anthropic has just released Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and it's a game-changer. This new model is not only smarter and faster than its predecessors, but it also introduces a cool new feature called Artifacts. Imagine having your own AI assistant that can generate code, create documents, and even design websites, all while you chat and collaborate in real-time. It's like having a super-powered brainstorming partner right at your fingertips!

But that's not all – Claude 3.5 Sonnet also comes with a nifty feature called Projects, helping you keep all your AI-assisted work organized and easily accessible. Whether you're a coding newbie, a content creator, or just someone curious about the latest in AI, this tool is definitely worth checking out. Want to learn more about how Claude 3.5 Sonnet can supercharge your productivity and creativity? Head over to my full blog post here: Claude 3.5 Sonnet - AI Assistance with Speed and Artifacts. Trust me, you won't want to miss this glimpse into the future of human-AI collaboration! 🚀🤖

Supercharge Your Spring Apps with AI - A Beginner's Guide to Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Spring AI

Ready to take your Java applications to the next level with some cutting-edge AI? I've got just the thing for you! In my latest blog post, I'm diving into how to integrate Claude 3.5 Sonnet (that awesome new AI model from Anthropic) with Spring applications using Spring AI. It's like giving your Spring apps a superpower boost! 🚀

I walk you through setting up a Spring Boot project that uses Spring AI to chat with Claude 3.5 Sonnet, complete with code samples for creating a chat controller and handling generated code. The best part? It's all done in the familiar Spring environment you know and love. Whether you're looking to add code generation, natural language processing, or other AI capabilities to your projects, this guide has got you covered. Curious to see how it all comes together? Check out the full post here: Supercharge Your Spring Apps with AI. And don't forget to grab the source code from my GitHub repo to start experimenting. Happy coding, and let's build some AI-powered Spring magic! 🌟💻

Videos

As I mentioned earlier August was a busy month, but I was able to knock out 1 video. I have a long list of videos in the queue and I will begin working on those this week.

📺 Must-Watch Java Tutorial: Method References Explained

I had an opportunity to put together a video on method references in Java. I break down this powerful Java 8 feature, showing how it can make our code cleaner and more expressive. I cover all four types of method references with clear, practical examples that even Java beginners can follow.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

  • Method references offer a concise way to reference methods or constructors
  • They work alongside lambda expressions for more functional-style programming
  • Types include: static, instance (particular object), instance (arbitrary object), and constructor references
  • Your IDE can help spot opportunities to use method references

If you're looking to level up your Java skills, check out the video here. It's time well spent!

Until Next Week

I hope you enjoyed this newsletter installment, and I will talk to you in the next one. If you have any links you would like me to include please contact me and I might add them to a future newsletter. I hope you have a great week and as always friends...

Happy Coding
Dan Vega
[email protected]
https://www.danvega.dev